RadarCoverageEastAug2013.pngRussia is actively upgrading its early-warning radar network - there have been quite a few changes since my last update. First, the radars in Armavir (or at least one of them) began combat duty operations in June 2013, replacing the old Daryal radar in Gabala, Azerbaijan.

Also in June 2013, Russia began construction of a new radar in Barnaul (reportedly Voronezh-DM). In August, construction of a Voronezh-M radar began at another site - near Orsk in Orenburg region.

Two Voronezh-M (also designated Voronezh-VP for "high potential") radars are operating in pilot mode in Michelevka (Usoliye Sibirskoye, Irkutsk). According to an interview of the representative of RTI, the institute that designed the radars, the first face began operations in October 2011 and is working in experimental combat mode since December 2012 (during this time it was said to have detected six launches from China, some of them - without notification). The second face started operations on 17 July 2013. According to RTI, the faces have dimensions of 80x50 m and the power of each is 700 kW (this is probably power of a pulse, not an average power). It is likely that once these radars begin combat duty, the old Dnepr in Michelevka will be either taken offline or reoriented toward space surveillance. The map above shows how the coverage in the East would look like in this case.

Few more radars are at the planning stage. According to one report, Voronezh-VP radars will replace old radars in Pechora and Olenegorsk. Construction is expected to begin in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Two more radars have been mentioned in various reports - one in Eniseysk/Krasnoyarsk and another near Omsk, but I could not find anything firm about these.

I prepared an updated Google Earth kmz file that shows how the radar fans look like as of August 2013 - Russian early warning radars Aug 2013.kmz.